Xiang Gong
Chinese style dishes at their best
We now live in a time of gastronomic globalisation, people in China regularly eat Italian, Thais crave French cuisine, even English-style roasts are now looked upon favourably when served by high caste socialites in Calcutta, and possibly the most famous Chinese dish – chop suey – isn’t Chinese at all but American. Eating authentic Chinese food used to be a rather grisly experience and those who visit China Town in western capitals may still experience a slight frisson of culinary nervousness when faced with a menu that trumpets the delights of tripe with black beans and roasted chicken feet or belly pot with sea cucumber.
Theirs is a culinary history of necessity, even today Chinese chefs pride themselves on having the least amount of food waste, with staff trained to utilise every organ. As a result, the old adage about it being advisable to eat in a restaurant where the place is filled with locals is one that doesn’t bring much comfort when talking Chinese establishments.
That’s why places like Xiang Gong are still going strong because there’s no whiff of wobbly offally things – like many of our Pan Asian restaurants, this establishment serves an array of good, old-fashioned ‘pseudo’ dishes which over the years we have all grown to love.
Walking into Xiang Gong is like going back in time, or at least a decade, except the d?cor is somewhat understated by traditional Chinese standards – the big open space situated on the first floor level is reasonably bright and airy and the overall feel is one of cosy comfort; a dining area where one can linger over a meal without being hassled to eat and run. The service is smoothly handled by a staff of rather attractive Chinese maidens appropriately dressed in flattering cheongsams, presided over by owner Stelios Ioannou, who has been a well-known character in the catering business since 1992.
He took charge of our order, introducing us to his menu via a fine mezze of dishes which married a bit of Chinese flavours and cooking styles, along with those gleaned from other countries. We enjoyed the breaded scallops with Thai sauce enormously, with the boast that the chef has 18 different recipes for scallops, all of which can be specially ordered by customers. We also had fresh, crisp, deep-battered prawns – the chef certainly knows how to make a decent batter and knows the importance of getting this dish to the table swiftly. And the spare ribs would surely have passed the Emperor Pu-Yi’s taste test. Duck is a prerequisite in any Chinese establishment and here we dined on good stuff, not overdone, with lashings of waxy pancakes and generous bowls of spreading sauce.
Xiang Gong presents no surprises, it’s good, decent fayre, which will suit everyone, be it those who love their garlic, black bean, chilli or ginger and comfortingly all dishes have the benefit of being zero MSG loaded. The other nice thing about this restaurant is the chef’s willingness to cook bespoke dishes, so if you fancy anything from pork balls to marinated chicken doused in sesame seeds, he will happily oblige.
VITAL STATISTICS
SPECIALITY good Chinese style dishes
WHERE Posidonos Avenue, Paphos
CONTACT 26 965616
PRICE from £10
